1999 Kenworth T300 Problems, Complaints & Recalls

Problem: Heavy duty trucks equipped with trw tie rod ends on certain arvinmeritor and dana axles. Peterbilt will recall 1,434 vehicles equipped with arvinmeritor axles manufactured from december 11, 1999, to may 14, 2000, and from july 22 to september 30, 2000. Kenworth will recall 859 vehicles equipped with arvinmeritor vehicles manufactured from december 11, 1999, to may 23, 2000, and from july 27, 2000, to september 30, 2000 and kennworth will recall an additional 4,151 vehicles equipped with dana axles and manufactured from june 23 to december 6, 1999, and from may 23 to september 30, 2000. The tie rod and drag link ball stud ends contain bearings that are below the specified case depth and/or hardness.

Risk: This can lead to premature wear with possible separation of the ball stud from the socket, increasing the risk of loss of control of the vehicle.

Fix: Dealers will remove and replace all affected tie rods and drag links with different designed ends. Owner notification began july 15, 2002. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact peterbilt at 1-940-591-4201 or kenworth at 1-425-828-5440.

Problem: Vehicle description: heavy duty trucks equipped with trw tie rod ends on certain meritor axles. The tie rod and drag link ball stud ends contain bearings that are below the specified case depth and/or hardness.

Risk: This can lead to premature wear with possible separation of the ball stud from the socket, increasing the risk of loss of control of the vehicle.

Fix: Dealers will remove and replace all affected tie rods and drag links with different designed ends. Owner notification began october 24, 2001. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact peterbilt at 1-940-591-4000 or kenworth at 1-425-828-5000.

Problem: Vehicle description: heavy duty trucks equipped with 10,000 or 12,000 pound dana front axles. A condition called brake "sprag", which is characterized by a noise at the end of an applied stop, can develop in the brake system. This noise is the result of a pulsation of the brake lining with the brake drum during brake application. These noise vibrations occur at the resonant frequency of the front axle cross-tube assembly and cause unusually high strain forces in the threaded portion of the tie rod ends that are connected to the cross-tube.

Risk: Failure of the tie rod end can cause loss of steering control and possibly result in a vehicle crash.

Fix: Dealers will replace the brake lining on the front axle of each vehicle with a lining made of a different composition. In addition, the tie rod ends will be replaced free of charge. Owner notification began october 12, 2001. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact kenworth at 1-425-828-5000.

Problem: Vehicle description: heavy duty trucks equipped with tie rod assemblies manufactured by trw. The suspect tie rods contain 24-dl model ball sockets. Certain of the tie rod ball-socket bearings have a below-specification case depth and/or hardness, which can lead to premature wear of the socket.

Risk: If this condition occurs, the driver can lose partial control of the right front wheel, possibly resulting in a crash.

Fix: Dealers will replace the defective ball sockets and/or drag links. Owner notification began on april 10, 2001, to kenworth owners and on april 25, 2001, to peterbilt owners. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact kenworth at 1-425-828-5000, peterbilt at 1-940-591-4000 or trw customer service at 1-866-280-3287.

Problem: Vehicle description: heavy duty trucks equipped with trw tie rod ends on certain meritor axles. The tie rod and drag link ball stud ends contain bearings that are below the specified case depth and/or hardness.

Risk: This can lead to premature wear with possible separation of the ball stud from the socket, increasing the risk of loss of control of the vehicle.

Fix: Dealers will remove and replace all affected tie rods and drag links with different designed ends.

Problem: Vehicle description: heavy duty trucks. The installation of the aluminum steering driveline exceeds the u-joint angles specified by dana, the driveline manufacturer. By exceeding this specification, the u-joint could contact and cause a stress riser in the aluminum drive shaft. This contact could cause in a notch in the aluminum drivement, resulting in a stress riser in the shaft.

Risk: This notch could cause premature failure of the steering driveline, resulting in loss of vehicle control and/or vehicle crash without prior warning.

Fix: Dealers will replace the aluminum driveline with a steel version.